The Former Vezina Trophy Winner, Who Spent Four Seasons With the Club, Retires after 30 Years in the NHL

The Ducks announced today that Goaltending Consultant Pete Peeters is retiring. The 1983 Vezina Trophy winner steps away from professional hockey after spending 30 years in the NHL as a player and coach (13 years playing, 17 years coaching).

“Congratulations to Pete on a tremendous career, both as a player and a coach,” said Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray. “Pete’s character, competitiveness and class have made him one of the league’s great people. We wish him the very best during his well-deserved retirement and thank him for his contributions to the Ducks and the NHL.”

Peeters, 55 (8/17/57), was named the Ducks goaltending consultant on July 28, 2009. He tutored current Ducks goaltenders Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth during his four-year tenure with the club. Prior to joining Anaheim, Peeters served as the goaltending coach for the Edmonton Oilers in his native city from 2000-2001 through 2008-09. He coached Dwayne Roloson and the Oilers to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final vs. Carolina. Prior to joining Edmonton, Peeters spent four seasons as the goaltending coach for the Winnipeg Jets and Phoenix Coyotes from 1993-97.

“I could write a small book thanking everyone who has made my career such a great experience,” said Peeters. “The Ducks welcomed me into their family and made me feel a part of it from day one. Thank you to the Samuelis, Michael Schulman and Bob Murray for giving me the opportunity to work with this great organization. I will certainly miss the people, including the coaches, players and the entire club staff. The list could go on and on.”

Peeters made his NHL debut during the 1978-79 season and captured the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender in 1982-83 with the Boston Bruins. He won the trophy as part of a career year with the Bruins in which he placed second in Hart Trophy (league MVP) balloting behind Wayne Gretzky. He also recorded a league-leading 40 wins and a 2.36 goals-against average (GAA) that season. In his first full NHL season in 1979-80, Peeters earned a 29-5-5 record, helping the Philadelphia Flyers to a 35-game undefeated streak, which is the longest in NHL history. That same year, he helped the Flyers advance to the Stanley Cup Final, falling to the New York Islanders in six games. In his 13-year career (1978-91), Peeters appeared in 489 career games with Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, recording a 246-155-51 mark with a 3.08 GAA. He was also a four-time All-Star, appearing in the mid-season classic in 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984.

Selected by Philadelphia in the eighth round (135th overall) of the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft, Peeters resides in Edmonton with his wife, Laurel. The couple’s three children (Jeremy, Trevor and Chelsey) and granddaughter, Emma also reside in the Edmonton area.
Peeters spoke of his retirement to AnaheimDucks.com. Below is a transcript.

"I could write a small book thanking everyone who has made my career such a great experience. The Ducks welcomed me into their family and made me feel a part of it from day one. Thank you to the Samuelis, Michael Schulman and Bob Murray for giving me the opportunity to work with this great organization. I will certainly miss the people, including the coaches, players and the entire club staff. The list could go on and on.

"All the goalies I worked with over the years and the hard effort they put in every day. And the training staff – the work that they do all time…they’re unsung heroes. They don’t get all the credit they deserve and they work so hard 24/7.

"The coaching staffs I worked with throughout my career were just fantastic - that goes right from the beginning with Winnipeg – to the Edmonton staff, to Randy Carlyle and his staff and Bruce Boudreau’s group.

"The players I have had the pleasure of working with and being around have been extremely special to me. Especially in Anaheim my last four years – what a great person Scotty Niedermayer is – the human side, the leader, the coaching ability – it all outweighs what a great player he was, and that’s saying a lot. Being around Teemu and Saku, I don’t think the young kids can quite understand the people that they’re associating with every day – not yet anyways, I think they’ll realize it when they get older. To be in their presence, I was in awe. I even felt that way with great guys like Getzlaf, Perry and Beauchemin – and even though it was a short stint, I really loved working with Giguere and just knowing the wonderful things he did for the organization. You knew these guys as players, but as people, it was sure nice to get to know them."